The author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Total Quality Management and Self-Managed Teams, as compared to mass production approaches to service delivery, among customer service and sales workers in a large unionized regional Bell operating company. Participation in self-managed teams was associated with a statistically significant improvement in self-reported service quality and a 9.3% increase in sales per employee. When combined with new technology, teams boosted sales an additional 17.4%. These effects persisted over time. Total Quality Management, by contrast, did not affect performance. This study represents a “strong test” of the efficacy of teams because theory predicts weak outcomes for self-managed teams among service and sales employees in establishments where technology and organizational structure limit opportunities for self-regulation, the nature of work and technology do not require interdependence, and downsizing creates pervasive job insecurity—conditions found at the company studied here.
References
1.
AdamEverett E.1991. “Quality Circle Performance.”Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1 (March), pp. 25–39.
2.
AdlerPaul. 1993. “The ‘Learning Bureaucracy’: New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.” In StawBarryCummingsLarry, eds., Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 15. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, pp. 111–94.
3.
AdlerPaulColeRobert. 1993. “Designed for Learning: A Tale of Two Auto Plants.”Sloan Management Review, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Fall), pp. 85–94.
4.
AlderferClayton P.1977. “An Intergroup Perspective on Group Dynamics.” In LorschJ. W., ed., Handbook of Organizational Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, pp. 190–222.
5.
AnconaDeborah G.1990. “Outward Bound: Strategies for Team Survival in an Organization.”Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 334–65.
6.
AnconaDeborah G.CaldwellDavid F., 1992. “Demography and Design: Predictors of New Product Team Performance.”Organization Science, Vol. 3, No. 3 (August), pp. 321–41.
7.
AppelbaumEileenBaileyThomasBergPeterKallebergArne. 2000. Manufacturing Competitive Advantage: The Effects of High Performance Work Systems on Plant Performance and Worker Outcomes. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, forthcoming.
8.
AppelbaumEileenBattRosemary. 1994. The New American Workplace: Transforming Work Systems in the United States. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press (an imprint of Cornell University Press).
9.
ArthurJeffrey. 1992. “The Link between Business Strategy and Industrial Relations Systems in American Steel Minimills.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 45, No. 3 (April), pp. 488–506.
10.
BaileyThomas. 1992. “Discretionary Effort and the Organization of Work: Employee Participation and Work Reform since Hawthorne.” Manuscript prepared for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, August.
11.
BattRosemaryKeefeJeffrey. 1999. “Human Resource and Employment Practices in Telecommunications Services.” In CappelliPeter, ed., Employment Strategies: Why Similar Employers Manage Differently. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
12.
BeckerBrianGerhartBarry. 1996. “Special Research Forum: Human Resource Management and Organizational Performance.”Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 777–985.
13.
BeekunRafik I.1989. “Assessing the Effectiveness of Sociotechnical Interventions: Antidote or Fad?”Human Relations, Vol. 42, No. 10, pp. 877–97.
14.
BergPeterAppelbaumEileenBaileyThomasKallebergArne. 1996. “The Performance Effects of Modular Production in the Apparel Industry.”Industrial Relations, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 356–73.
15.
BerggrenChristian. 1992. Alternatives to Lean Production: Work Organization in the Swedish Auto Industry. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press (an imprint of Cornell University Press).
16.
BollenKenneth. 1989. Structural Equations with Latent Variables. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
17.
BowenDavid E.SchneiderBenjamin. 1988. “Services Marketing and Management: Implications for Organizational Behavior.” In StawB. M.CummingsL. L., eds., Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 10. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, pp. 43–80.
18.
CampionMichael A.MedskerGina J.HiggsA. Catherine. 1993. “Relations between Work Group Characteristics and Effectiveness: Implications for Designing Effective Work Groups.”Personnel Psychology, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 823–50.
19.
ChaseRichard B.1978. “Where Does the Customer Fit in a Service Operation?”Harvard Business Review, Vol. 56, No. 6, pp. 137–42.
20.
CohenJacobCohenPatricia. 1983. Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis in Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed.Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
21.
CohenSusan G.1994. “Designing Effective Self-Managing Work Teams.” In BeyerleinM.JohnsonD., eds., Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams, Vol. 1. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, pp. 67–102.
22.
CohenSusanBaileyDiane. 1997. “What Makes Teams Work: Group Effectiveness Research from the Shop Floor to the Executive Suite.”Journal of Management, Vol. 23, No. 3 (June), pp. 239–90.
23.
CohenSusanLedfordGerald. 1994. “The Effectiveness of Self-Managing Teams: A Quasi-Experiment.”Human Relations, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 13–43.
24.
CohenSusanLedfordGeraldSpreitzerGretchen. 1996. “A Predictive Model of Self-Managing Work Team Effectiveness.”Human Relations, Vol. 49, No. 5 (May), pp. 643–76.
25.
CorderyJohn L.MuellerWalter S.SmithLeigh M., 1991. “Attitudinal and Behavioral Effects of Autonomous Group Working: A Longitudinal Field Study.”Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 464–76.
26.
CottonJohn L.1993. Employee Involvement: Methods for Improving Performance and Work Attitudes. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage.
27.
CummingsThomas G.1978. “Self-Regulating Work Groups: A Socio-Technical Synthesis.”Academy of Management Review, Vol. 3, No. 4 (July), pp. 625–34.
28.
CummingsThomas G.HuseE. F., 1989. Organizational Development and Change. St. Paul, Minn.: West.
29.
Current Population Survey (CPS). 1996. Merged Annual Earnings Files. Washington, D.C.
30.
Cutcher-GershenfeldJoel. 1991. “The Impact on Economic Performance of a Transformation in Workplace Relations.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 44, No. 2 (January), pp. 241–60.
31.
DemingEdward. 1984. Out of the Crisis. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
32.
EmeryF.1959. Characteristics of Socio-Technical Systems. Document No. 527. London: Tavistock Institute.
33.
ErezAmirJohnsonDianeJudgeTimothy. 1995. “Self-Deception as a Mediator of the Relationship between Dispositions and Subjective Weil-Being.”Person. Individual Differences, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 597–612.
34.
GladsteinDeborah L.1984. “Groups in Context: A Model of Task Group Effectiveness.”Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 4 (December), pp. 499–517.
35.
GriffinRicky W.1988. “Consequences of Quality Circles in an Industrial Setting: A Longitudinal Assessment.”Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 338–58.
36.
GoodmanPaul S.RavlinElizabeth C.ArgoteLinda. 1986. “Current Thinking about Groups: Setting the Stage.” In GoodmanP. S., ed., Designing Effective Work Groups. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 1–33.
37.
GutekBarbara. 1995. The Dynamics of Service: Reflections on the Changing Nature of Customer/Provider Interactions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
38.
GuzzoRichard A.JetteRichard D.KatzellRaymond A., 1985. “The Effects of Psychologically Based Intervention Programs on Worker Productivity: A Meta-Analysis.”Personnel Psychology, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 275–91.
39.
HackmanJ. Richard. 1987. “The Design of Work Teams.” In LorschJ. W., ed., Handbook of Organizational Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, pp. 315–42.
40.
HeskettJamesSasserW. EarlJr.HartChristopher. 1990. Service Breakthroughs: Changing the Rules of the Game. New York: Free Press.
41.
HeskettJamesSasserW. EarlJr.SchlesingerLeonard A., 1997. The Service Profit Chain: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction, and Value. New York: Free Press.
42.
HuberP. J.1967. “The Behavior of Maximum Likelihood Estimates under Non-Standard Conditions.”Proceedings of the Fifth Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability, Vol. 1, pp. 221–33.
43.
HunterLarry W.LafkasJohn J., 1998. “Information Technology, Work Practices, and Wages.”Proceedings of the 50th Annual Meeting of the Industrial Relations Research Association. Madison, Wisc: IRRA.
44.
IchniowskiCaseyKochanThomasLevineDavidOlsonCraigStraussGeorge. 1996. “What Works at Work: Overview and Assessment.”Industrial Relations, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 299–334.
45.
IchniowskiCaseyShawKathrynPrennushiGiovanna. 1995. “The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity.” Working Paper No. 5333, National Bureau of Economic Research.
46.
JonesThomas O.SasserW. EarlJr.1995. “Why Satisfied Customers Defect.”Harvard Business Review (Nov.-Dec.), pp. 88–99.
KeefeJeffreyBoroffKaren. 1994. “Telecommunications Labor Management Relations after Divestiture.” In VoosPaula, ed., Contemporary Collective Bargaining in the Private Sector. Madison, Wis.: Industrial Relations Research Association.
49.
KelleyMaryellen R.1996. “Participative Bureaucracy and Productivity in Machined Products.”Industrial Relations, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 374–99.
50.
KeltnerBrent. 1995. “Relationship Banking and Competitive Advantage: Evidence from the U.S. and Germany.”California Management Review, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Summer), pp. 45–73.
51.
KleinJanice. 1989. “A Reexamination of Autonomy in Light of New Manufacturing Practices.”Human Relations, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 21–38.
52.
KochanThomasOstermanPaul. 1994. The Mutual Gains Enterprise. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
53.
LawlerEdward E.III, 1986. High-Involvement Management: Participative Strategies for Improving Organizational Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
54.
LawlerEdward E.IIIMohrmanSusan A., 1987. “Quality Circles: After the Honeymoon.”Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 15 (Spring), pp. 42–54.
55.
LawlerEdward E.IIIMohrmanSusanLedfordGerald. 1995. Creating High Performance Organizations: Practices and Results of Employee Involvement and Total Quality Management in Fortune 1000 Companies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
56.
LeidnerRobin. 1993. Fast Food, Fast Talk: Service Work and the Routinization of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
57.
LevittTheodore. 1972. “Production Line Approach to Services.”Harvard Business Review, Vol. 50 (September-October), pp. 41–52.
58.
LevittTheodore. 1976. “The Industrialization of Service.”Harvard Business Review, Vol. 54 (September-October), pp. 63–74.
59.
LovelockChristopher. 1990. “Managing Interactions between Operations and Marketing and Their Impact on Customers.” In BowenDavidChaseRichard B.CummingsThomas, eds., Service Management Effectiveness: Balancing Strategy, Organization and Human Resources, Operations, and Marketing. Oxford: Jossey-Bass, pp. 343–68.
60.
MacDuffieJohn Paul. 1995. “Human Resource Bundles and Manufacturing Performance: Organizational Logic and Flexible Production Systems in the World Auto Industry.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 48, No. 2 (January), pp. 197–221.
61.
MacyBarry A.IzumiHiroaki. 1993. “Organizational Change, Design, and Work Innovation: A Meta-Analysis of 131 North American Field Studies, 1961–1991.”Research in Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 7, pp. 235–313.
62.
McKinseyG. I.1992. Service Sector Productivity. Washington, D.C.: McKinsey.
63.
PasmoreWilliam A.1988. Designing Effective Organizations: The Sociotechnical Systems Perspective. New York: Wiley.
64.
PasmoreWilliam A.FrancisC.HaldemanJ., 1982. “Sociotechnical Systems: A North American Reflection on Empirical Studies of the Seventies.”Human Relations, Vol. 35, No. 12, pp. 1179–1204.
65.
JohnA. PearceRavlinElizabeth C., 1987. “The Design and Activation of Self-Regulating Work Groups.”Human Relations, Vol. 40, No. 11, pp. 751–81.
66.
PfefferJeffrey. 1998. The Human Equation: Building Profits through People. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
67.
PioreMichaelSabelCharles. 1984. The Second Industrial Divide. New York: Basic Books.
68.
ReichheldFrederick F.1996. The Loyalty Effect. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
69.
RobertsKarlene H.GlickWilliam. 1981. “The Job Characteristics Approach to Task Design: A Critical Review.”Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 193–217.
70.
RubensteinSaul. 1999. “The Impact of Co-Management on Quality Performance: The Case of the Saturn Corporation.” Forthcoming, Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
71.
SchlesingerLeonardHeskettJames. 1991. “Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services.”Sloan Management Review, Vol. 32 (Spring), pp. 17–28.
72.
SnellScottDeanJames. 1992. “Integrated Manufacturing and Human Resource Management: A Human Capital Perspective.”Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 467–503.
73.
SteelRobert P.JenningsKenneth R.LindseyJames T., 1990. “Quality Circle Problem Solving and Common Cents: Evaluation Study Findings from a United States Mint.”Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 365–82.
74.
TristEric L.BamforthK. W., 1951. “Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Long Wall Method of Coal-Getting.”Human Relations, Vol. 4, pp. 3–38.
75.
WagnerJohn A.GoodingRichard Z., 1987. “Shared Influence and Organizational Behavior: A Meta-Analysis of Situational Variables Expected to Moderate Participation Outcome Relationships.”Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 524–41.
76.
WallTobyKempNigelJacksonPaulCleggChris. 1986. “Outcomes of Autonomous Work Groups: A Long-Term Field Experiment.”Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 280–304.
77.
YammarinoFrancis J.DubinskyAlan J., 1990. “Salesperson Performance and Managerially Controllable Factors: An Investigation of Individual and Work Group Effects.”Journal of Management, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Spring), pp. 87–106.
78.
ZimmermanCharlesEnellJohn. 1988. “Service Industries.” In DuranJ. M.GrynaFrank, eds., Juran's Quality Control Handbook, 4th ed.New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 33. 1–72.
79.
ZuboffShoshana. 1988. In the Age of the Smart Machine. New York: Basic Books.
